Palestinians pass by the gate of an UNRWA-run school in Nablus Photo: Reuters/Abed Omar Qusini.

The official Palestinian Authority (PA) news agency, WAFA, recently republished a statement by the the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) calling for the resettlement of millions of refugees worldwide.

The WAFA article is striking because it presents, without objection, the UN’s genuine humanitarian solution to refugee crises: ending refugee status by helping refugees build new lives in their new countries.

According to the UNHCR statement published by WAFA, some 2.4 million refugees around the world will require resettlement in 2027 because they face dangers in their current home countries and cannot safely return home.

The solution promoted is not to preserve their refugee status forever, nor to raise generation after generation on the dream of returning to places they never lived. Rather, WAFA quotes the UNHCR’s call for resettlement as “an enduring solution” that “helps break the displacement cycle for future generations.”

This is exactly the opposite of the political role UNRWA plays in the Palestinian case.

For Palestinians, UNRWA preserves and expands refugee status by passing it down to descendants indefinitely. Instead of “breaking the displacement cycle,” UNRWA maintains it. Instead of helping Palestinians build permanent futures where they live, it keeps millions defined as “refugees” and tells them that they have a “right” to return to places they have never been and can never return to in Israel.

WAFA’s publication of the UNHCR statement exposes the double standard. When the refugees are Afghan, Sudanese, Syrian, South Sudanese, or Rohingya, resettlement is presented as humane, urgent, stabilizing, and life-saving. But when the refugees are Palestinian, the PA rejects the same humanitarian solution because it would undermine the political weapon of the so-called “right of return.”

The PA does not want a humanitarian solution. It wants residents of refugee camps to continue suffering as so-called “refugees,” as permanent political weapons against Israel.

Headline: “UNHCR: Some 2.4 million refugees around the world will require resettlement in 2027″…

“Following is the full UNHCR statement: …

‘Afghans remain the largest group in need of resettlement, followed by refugees from South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Rohingya refugees, who are mostly in Bangladesh and continue to face acute risks and limited alternatives…

Resettlement, which was the first solution that the international community implemented after the Second World War, is a key pillar of UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih’s drive to halve the number of refugees in protracted displacement reliant on humanitarian assistance by 2035. As we mark the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention this year, recommitting to protection and solutions is more critical than ever.

Resettlement helps relieve pressure on host countries, strengthens partnerships, contributes to stability, and helps reduce dangerous onward journeys. Expanding resettlement is urgent and achievable. Increasing quotas, bringing more countries on board, and accelerating processing would ensure that this life-saving tool reaches more of those most in need.

Resettlement is not charity, but an enduring solution that helps break the displacement cycle for future generations…'” [emphasis added]

[WAFA, official PA news agency, English edition, June 17, 2026]

The author is the Founder and Director of Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article first appeared.